ESCONDIDO: Outdoor venue could bolster arts center

The new leaders of Escondido's struggling arts center have
proposed several ways to increase revenue and bring more people to
the center, including a plan to spend roughly $500,000 to
permanently fence in a 12-acre grassy area for outdoor concerts,
films and musicals.

Officials estimate the outdoor venue could accommodate 5,000 to
6,000 people, making it financially feasible to book performers and
shows that can't make money in the California Center for the Arts,
Escondido's 1,500-seat theater without high ticket prices.

"This would completely change the business model for us,"
interim chief executive Jon Teeuwissen said last week. "We could
actually generate revenue."

Adding an outdoor venue would also bring more people to the
center and Escondido's nearby downtown district, and rock concerts
would attract younger people, he said.

"It really fits in with why the city built the arts center ----
to attract people to downtown," said Teeuwissen, who took over the
center's operations six months ago. "It should also be packed with
young people, and that's the audience we're not currently
attracting."

City Manager Clay Phillips praised the idea last week, noting
that outdoor shows would require less technical staff than indoor
productions, and that the region's temperate climate made Escondido
an ideal outdoor venue.

Phillips said potential hurdles would include ensuring
compatibility with nearby recreation areas of Grape Day Park, and
persuading the City Council to spend $500,000 of its $18 million
reserve on the project, which would include building a large fence
around the center's "Great Green" and erecting a permanent
stage.

Councilman Ed Gallo said he supported the plan because the
outdoor venue would pay for itself quickly by increasing the
center's revenue.

He also noted that the $500,000 would be different from the city
covering a string of budget deficits the center has racked up in
recent years, because it would be a "one-time" payment that would
actually help the center avoid future deficits.

The $81 million center has run deficits in 14 of the 17 years
since it opened, forcing the city to spend an average of nearly $3
million per year on subsidies.

But officials have lowered that number to $1.6 million in recent
years with staff and program cuts. And
new optimism
about the center has emerged this year since its
management was taken over by Teeuwissen and Carina Courtright,
president of the center's volunteer board of trustees.

"Jon is a creator, he's very bright and he knows this business,"
said Councilman Mike Morasco, who serves with Gallo on the
council's arts center subcommittee.

Another change Teeuwissen plans to make immediately is to use
the center's 9,000-square-foot museum as a conference space when
the center's 9,000-square-foot conference wing is typically
overbooked, such as the holiday season and summer.

Teeuwissen said the change will increase revenue in the
conference wing, which has typically been the only profitable part
of the center, while also reducing museum expenses. He noted that
he recently eliminated two full-time positions ---- museum curator
and museum director.

Other proposals, which Teeuwissen said would take longer to
accomplish, would be turning the empty visitors bureau site into a
theater cafe, staging jam sessions for local musicians, having
mariachi festivals and creating a performing arts school for
youngsters.

The center will also switch ticket sales to Ticketmaster next
summer when its contract with tickets.com expires, said Teeuwissen,
explaining that the change would allow the center to integrate its
donor list with its ticket-buyer list.

"Everything we're doing is based on two basic drivers ----
increasing traffic and revenue," he said.

The Great Green

Teeuwissen said his plan to fence the Great Green, an underused
rectangular patch of grass just north of City Hall, was inspired by
Chicago's
Ravinia
Festival, which stages popular outdoor concerts each summer.

Ravinia can accommodate about 15,000 people on 35 acres, which
would translate to about 5,000 people on Escondido's 12-acre Great
Green, he said.

Teeuwissen said he'd like to move quickly enough to have a
summer concert series in 2012, estimating that tickets would cost
somewhere between $5 and $40 per show, depending on the
performer.

He said people would sit on lawn chairs on the Great Green that
they could bring or rent, and the arts center would sell food and
drinks during events. The drinks could include alcohol, which would
be legal inside the fence.

Teeuwissen predicted the calendar would fill quickly for such an
unusual venue, but it was difficult to find industry officials to
comment on the proposal.

Frank Tracy, a Vista city employee in charge of that city's
Moonlight Amphitheatre, said last week that the city doesn't always
sell out its 2,000-seat outdoor venue. But he said ticket sales are
generally strong, noting that singer Christopher Cross performed
there this year.

Mitzi Stone, who handles public relations for Humphrey's in San
Diego, another outdoor venue, declined to comment.

Preserving the park

Phillips, the city manager, said one potential problem was
fencing an area that has been open to the public.

But Gallo noted there would still be plenty of space left in
Grape Day Park for other city events, and that the park's train
depot, history center and playgrounds wouldn't be affected.

He also noted that the arts center controls the Great Green,
which is typically empty at most times, and that it's not
officially part of the public park.

Fire Chief Mike Lowry said he had no initial concerns about the
proposal as long as there would be easy points of entry and exit to
the venue in case of emergency.

Councilwoman Olga Diaz said the fence should have removable
panels so that the Great Green could be open to the public at all
times except concerts, when it would need to be closed to ensure
that people couldn't enter without a ticket.

Teeuwissen said the stage would face west toward Escondido
Boulevard, allowing people in Grape Day Park to hear the music but
not see the performers. He said he was unsure how tall the fence
would be, but suggested it would be the minimum height needed to
keep people out.

Diaz said she otherwise supported the idea.

"One of the strongest arguments against our 1,500-seat theater
is that you can't sell enough tickets for a big-name performer,"
said Diaz, noting that the theater was scaled down from 2,500 seats
because of spiraling construction costs on the center. "It would
probably be the most impressive outdoor venue in the region."